In this debut memoir, scientist Hope Jahren reflects on her life thus far as a female paleobiologist from the midwestern United States. This award-winning expert and professor at the University of Hawaii, recounts the struggle of progressing in a male-dominated field while under constant scrutiny from an uncompromising family. Her tales are mixed with sentiments of love for her research, as well as love for the team of likeminded scientists who embed themselves into her unconventional lifestyle. The morality of mixing work with pleasure, balancing a family alongside a blossoming career, overcoming failure, finding peace of mind in the world of work, and tackling said work “with both the heart and the hands” are at play in this riveting collection of true triumphs.
